Many baseball prognosticators did not choose the Texas Rangers to make a third straight World Series appearance this season.
They saw what Anaheim did by adding Albert Pujols; they loved what Detroit shelled out for Prince Fielder; the Yankees are the Yankees; the Rays have arguably the best starting pitching in the majors; the Red Sox have a potent lineup.
Yet, after 11 games to start the 2012 season, it's the Rangers who flaunt the best record in the AL at 9-2.
I decided I needed to blog because the Rangers are currently annihilating the Red Sox, 16-3, in the eighth inning at Fenway. They have batted around twice, swatted 21 hits (six home runs) and have drawn eight walks. This is insanity:
I have five Rangers observations after the first week-and-change of baseball games:
1. Josh Hamilton is playing out of his mind.
After Tuesday night, Hamilton is hitting .413 with five home runs and 11 RBIs. He actually hasn't drawn a walk on the season because he's swinging at so many first-pitch strikes, but I can't complain. Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus, the two batters that hit in front of Hamilton, have combined for 10 walks and 17 runs in 11 games. Hamilton is having an MVP-caliber beginning to his season, making the lingering contract talk all the more interesting heading into his final year of control.
2. This batting order is silly.
There's no way to pitch around this lineup. Mike Napoli hits seventh many nights, and he was the best hitter in baseball for the second half of last season. When everyone is healthy - this hasn't happened often the past two years - there is no team that can match how scary the Rangers lineup is (Kinsler-Andrus-Hamilton-Beltre-Young-Cruz-Napoli-Murphy-Moreland). #yikes.
3. The starting pitching has been great.
Texas starters have earned the victory in seven of the nine victories to start the season. Colby Lewis is 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA and a 22/1 K/BB ratio. Derek Holland is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA and a 13/3 K/BB ratio. Matt Harrison (2-0, 0.64 ERA) has surpassed everyone's expectations. Neftali Feliz (1-0, 2.25) has looked solid.
4. Yu Darvish has struggled with command.
Darvish, the Rangers pitcher with the highest ceiling, has struggled the most out of the gate. It's somewhat understandable, given that he's still getting a feel for what the American game is like. The 25-year-old Japanese standout is 1-0, but he's been lucky with fantastic run support. If you look at the numbers, his ERA sits at 4.76, to go along with nine strikeouts and eight walks in 11.1 innings. He's also hit at least three batters, so he's really given more free passes than he's punched guys out this year. His 2.21 WHIP is the highest on the team. Not the best start. All that said, I expect once Darvish gets into more of a comfort zone, we'll start to see better results.
5. The Rangers bullpen will either make or break a deep playoff run this year.
If there's one area of minor concern with this team, it's the bullpen, or specifically, the closer. Joe Nathan (6.00 ERA) has taken the loss in both of the Rangers' two defeats this year. If Texas is going to repeat as AL champs, it will need a sure-fire stopper to close out games, much like Feliz did for the majority of 2010 and 2011. Granted, when Nathan is on (he has shown signs of life, striking out eight and walking none), the bullpen becomes one of the best in the game. Mike Adams and Alexi Ogando are stellar. And how about this stat: The Rangers' bullpen has struck out 28 batters and issued only one walk so far. Magnificent.
So yes, I'm nitpicking a bit with the Nathan observations, but in a season that has started off so promising, that's about all I can find for now.
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